In Pictures: The Latest Version of the Former Michael Reese Hospital Site
Tomorrow there will be a public meeting to reveal the latest vision for the Michael Reese Hospital site on the Bronzeville lakefront. The hospital was torn down a decade ago, and has been the object of many desires over the years, from an Olympic village to an urban casino. The current plan is to put up a several billion dollar medical research village, and has the backing of a big name Israeli medical concern. October 2020 rendering...
One Vote Means Two New Skyscrapers for Chicago
While you count down your final days in quarantine pretending to pay attention to work conference calls while scrubbing the grout, giving the dog a bath, and watching reruns of Press Your Luck (no whammies!), the steady march of skyscrapers through City Hall continues unabated. Today, Chicago City Council approved a project that will alter the city’s skyline in a delightful way. March 2020 rendering of 400 North Lake Shore...
Two Tower Project To Replace the Chicago Spire Goes to Plan Commission With An Unusual Condition
The 35-year saga of 400 North Lake Shore Drive may finally come to a conclusion soon, as this week the Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to consider the latest proposal for the property on the northwest corner of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. March 2020 rendering of 400 North Lake Shore Drive (Courtesy of Related Midwest) The location is perfect for a prominent, eye-catching trophy tower, and even in the mid-1980’s...
New Renderings, Info For Lakefront Skyscraper Duo
Editor’s note: These days pretty much everyone is worried about the Wuhan Flu. With a full-time gig for a healthcare company, we understand. We’ve also noticed that a lot of the more irreverent online publications aren’t publishing anymore because the world is a much more serious place now. We understand that, too. But as rabid news consumers, we also understand that sometimes you need an...
New Progress and Pictures of South Loop’s Next Mega-Development
There was a lot of hoopla yesterday about The 78, Related Midwest’s 62-acre mixed-use development going up on a brownfield site across the street from the South Loop Target store. There was lots of press. Lots of big names. But once you scrub out all of the clichés, the platitudes, and the marketing babble seemingly cribbed from a Silicon Valley startup’s About page, here’s what actually happened: A document was...
Lincoln Yards Passes Zoning, Finance Is Next
There’s an expression the kids used to use that goes, “Save the drama for your mama.” Chicago City Hall must have been full of mothers today when city council’s Zoning committee voted to approve the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project. Rendering of Lincoln Yards (Via Sterling Bay) The drama bubbled up from the minutiae of parliamentary procedure. The short version is that when 46th Ward Alderman James Cappleman...
Controversial Lincoln Yards Development Hours Away From Zoning Vote
One of the most controversial development projects in recent Chicago history is scheduled to go before city council’s Zoning Committee Thursday. What happens at City Hall could determine if the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project goes from beset to beleaguered. Diagram of the January 2019 Lincoln Yards plan Even before Sterling Bay unveiled its plans to redevelop the industrial zone formerly occupied by the A. Finkl & Sons...
Another Office Tower Coming To The Kennedy Expressway
It’s long been the goal of Chicago city planners to wall in I-90/94 through downtown in order to keep its noise, pollution, and bad vibes out of Chicago’s neighborhoods. We’ve seen a lot of progress toward that goal in the last decade. Now another skyscraper is going to help out. The location of 800 West Fulton Market, the former Isaacson and Stein Fish Company. (Via Apple Maps) 800 West Fulton Market is expected to...
Wild Plan Advances For Greening the Chicago River
The second community meeting about Wild Mile Chicago was held recently, and enthusiasm is growing for a project that would have seemed a few McNuggets short of a Happy Meal a decade ago. Anchored on the banks of the Chicago River in the Goose Island area, Wild Mile Chicago envisions a mile-long “eco park” running along, and into, the industrial waterway. Don’t get too excited. This image that’s been circulating...
New South Loop CTA Station Chugging Along
When plans for The 78 were unveiled, one of the line items that gave us the warm and fuzzies was the notion that the South Loop might be in line for another new L station. That idea is taking another step from being a mystery dot on a stylized map to becoming something concrete. A public meeting has been called to discuss revised plans for the new CTA Red Line station at The 78. You’ll remember that The 78 is the seven billion...
